Tag Archives: Memphis

Heading to Memphis, there were a lot of different food experiences we wanted to try. Unfortunately, as on most trips, we had way more places to try than we had meals. For BBQ, there was a lot of debate: Central, Paynes, Interstate, Rendezvous, BBQ Shop, Neely’s. Fried chicken lead to a similar debate. We knew what we wanted to try, and it was tough choosing one or two places to hit up. For catfish though, there was no question. We had to go to Uncle John’s.

Now, being no more knowledgeable of local geography than what i saw on a map, I had no idea that Arkansas was that close to Memphis. And while i’m not the biggest fan of checklist tourism, I do wish to visit all 50 states at some point, and this was an easy chance to knock one off. Crawfordsville AK is only roughly 30 minutes from downtown Memphis.

Uncle John’s is ostensibly an “Italian” restaurant, but they serve many Southern specialties as well. And on Friday’s, they have a catfish special that is regarded by many to be the best catfish they’ve had.

As we pulled up, everything screamed small town. There was a bench, complete with two suspicious locals who eyed us with trepidation as too many people emerged from a too small rental vehicle, quietly celebrating the end of our torturous ride. They were not impressed. I’m not sure I was that impressed either.

The exterior was a clean, nondescript building with a painting of what I can only assume is the proprietor. It was definitely a bit more modern than i was expecting.

Fried Chicken. In my travels, I’ve come across fried chicken in almost every culture. This was definitely surprising to me. Just as surprising, is that it often was really good fried chicken.

By the estimation of my fanatical, fried chicken loving sibling, Korean’s do the best fried chicken. But neither of us have explored a lot of the southern United States, and that’s somewhere that really appreciates their fried chicken.

The Front Street location of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken is the downtown Memphis location of the original Mason, Tennessee shop. And from the lineups and the crowds, it really is world famous.
Not much to look at, the place is completely full at all hours of the day. Clean, and tidy, the focus is really on one thing – the chicken. As has been accurately reported in thousands of reviews, this is not fast food. As the saying goes, good food takes time to prepare. And Gus’s serves good chicken!